What Is Psoriasis?

What is psoriasis? It is a chronic inflammatory disease, which belongs to one of the most problematic and irritating skin problems. It affects nearly 2% of the whole population of the planet. However, this number is believed to be much lower than the real one due to the fact, that many patients remain untreated. After reading this article you will find the answer to the question what is psoriasis and learn about the hypes of this disease.

Symptoms of psoriasis

Manifestations of the ailment may be very different and vary from patient to patient. The most common symptoms of psoriasis include:

Red plagues

The skin surface becomes affected by red plagues with loose scales. A patient usually has an uncomfortable burning feeling in the spot area, which is accompanied by a constant desire to itch it. Frequently, these plagues may also dry out and bleed. In case of deterioration of the patient’s health, red skin formations start growing and merging with each other. As a result, they gradually cover more and more areas of the body.

Nail disorders

Psoriasis can affect both fingernails and toenails. It usually manifests itself on the form of discoloration as well as pitting. In the worst cases, psoriasis leads to entire destruction of the nail plate and its further detachment.

Cortical formations on the scalp

It is necessary to take into consideration the fact that psoriasis, as a chronic relapsing disease, refers to psoriatic arthritis, which is accompanied by pain in the joints. In accordance with the results of the study conducted by National Psoriasis Research Center, from 10% to 30% of the patients who suffer from autoimmune skin diseases are prone to psoriatic arthritis.

It is the most common type of psoriasis. It usually causes dry, red skin lesions (plaques) covered with silvery scales.

Pustular psoriasis

It is a rare form of this skin disease. Pustular psoriasis is characterized by scaly red spots on the hands and/or purulent formations on the legs.

Guttate psoriasis

This type of psoriasis begins to manifest itself already in childhood in the form of red plagues on the torso and limbs. It is usually caused by emotional and psychological disorders, inflammations, injuries. In addition, the use of beta-blockers and many other drugs may also result in psoriasis.

Inverse psoriasis

Inverse form is characterized by contrasting red spots that show up in the folds of the skin including such locations as groin, armpit and breasts.

Erythrodermic psoriasis

It’s a particular type of this skin disease. Red plagues affect almost the whole body surface. Erythrodermic psoriasis is triggered by cessation of treatment, severe sunburns, infections as well as use of certain medications. This type requires an urgent systematic treatment at the very early stage. Otherwise, it can lead to serious consequences.

Statistical data

Around 5,5 million people in the US suffer from psoriasis. Because of the large prevalence of the disease, the question “what is psoriasis?” is very often asked on the Internet. About 10 percent of patients also suffer from psoriatic arthritis which can cause serious damage to the joints if the patient does not go to a healthcare professional in order to receive the necessary and timely treatment. Recent studies show that individuals with psoriasis are at a higher risk of cardiovascular ailments, obesity and diabetes. Therefore, it becomes clear that this disease affects not only the skin, but also causes a lot of negative systemic effects. In addition, people are often shy about their skin problems, which can lead to difficulties in socialization.

People who suffer from chronic symptoms of psoriasis know how inconvenient they can be. It must be added that some autoimmune diseases are considered incurable. However, many of them have already been classified and medications for their treatment have been created.

We believe that you have obtained enough information on the question what is psoriasis. To learn more about this unpleasant disease, read other articles on this website.